With startups leading the way in Canadian innovation every day, BetaKit does its part to help fill the talent gap with our BetaKit Job Board.
To highlight some of the great places prospective employees can work at across Canada, we’ll put one startup in the spotlight each week to find out what makes their company tick.
Right now, Wattpad is hiring a creative lead in Toronto. We talked to Wattpad head of people Bonnie Busby about the best parts of working there.
If someone were to come in to work for Wattpad on their first day, what’s the first thing you tell them to get them excited to work there?
Working at Wattpad is an opportunity to contribute to the evolution of storytelling and work on a product used by millions of people worldwide. It’s a chance to be part of something amazing.
What are some company perks that people can expect when working at Wattpad?
A competitive salary, flexible hours, and health benefits are some things that new hires can expect. We also provide transit passes, choice of laptop and display, fair-trade coffee, and, of course, snacks!
To go a step beyond, we provide employees a stake in Wattpad’s success. Stock options are personally delivered by our CEO and co-founder Allen Lau as a way to welcome full-time hires as part owners in one of Canada’s fastest growing and most successful consumer internet company.
When working as part of the creative team, what kind of problems could a creative lead expect to tackle? What makes the team so dynamic?
Wattpad’s creative lead will be responsible for a brand that is loved by a community of 40 million and growing. In a startup environment like Wattpad, this means tackling a range of projects and working closely with a variety of different teams.
This role stretches across roughly four areas: collateral design and development, brand management, people management, and project/stakeholder management.
It takes a driven and creative person to take on the day-to-day challenges of managing projects and stakeholder expectations. Luckily, the person for this role will be working with a team of marketing, product, and engineering all-stars that make work-flow a priority.
In what ways do you help to foster personal and/or professional growth in your team?
Allen often says that the role you start in at Wattpad is rarely the role you’ll stay in. Co-ops and interns contribute immensely at Wattpad so, internally, knowledge sharing is extremely important for us as it facilitates growth.
Weekly company-wide meetings and monthly hack-a-thons also keep everyone in the loop and engaged.
Our retention skews high because of how tight our team is and how well we foster individual career growth. Some of Toronto’s top talent works, or has worked, at Wattpad.
What’s your favourite part about working at Wattpad?
My favourite part about working at Wattpad is that everyone here is passionate about our product and community. Teamwork and collaboration are at the heart of everything we do.